**ACTION** - "Beauty And The Beast" Part 2

<snip>
"Don't worry" Cass smiled, clapping him on his shoulder "You won't
feel a thing, once the charges in the collar go off..."
"Charges!?" Rufus managed in a strangled sounding voice
"Yep" Cass turned to him and smiled coldly "I won't bother telling you
about the exact design of the collar and all it's many failsafe
systems and detonation triggers, because you're a smart guy after all,
and I sure as hell wouldn't want you deducing a way of removing or
disarming it without it killing you; suffice to say though: any
tampering will kill you"
"Y-y-y-you animal" Rufus spat
"You don't even know the half of it sweetheart" Cass pulled her
handheld terminal out and dialed up a few routines to mask their
movements from ship security "C'mon sparky, let's go get you hidden
some place nice and secure"
</snip>
"So w-w-what happens t-tomorrow?" He asked, shivering at the touch of
cold metal on the back of his neck.
"When they give in, when you've given over control of Holly properly,
we'll let you go." Cassandra said, leading him out of the room.
It wasn't much longer before Rosette returned to the Medibay to check
on him. Keto had said it would be a few hours before he could be
released, after all.
"Where's Rufus?" she asked as the doors closed behind her. She
expected him to be sat there ready to go.
"I tried to stop them." Keto said, truthfully for one of the few times
in his life. The last time he spoke the truth was probably so long
ago that he couldn't remember it himself. Coupled with the fact that
he was actually helping someone this time, made it a once a lifetime
instance.
"What did they do?" She asked, almost breaking down there and then.
"They put some kind of collar on him, and lead him away." Wildflower
said, taking over. She could see the Doctor having trouble keeping up
with being nice, since it would be something he'd never live down if
anyone else heard about it. "I'm sorry. But they said it was an
explosive collar." she added.
Frozen in place, Rosette stared through the window at the far side of
the medibay, just long enough for Keto and Wildflower to exchange a
glance that asked if they should do anything. Then she fell to her
knees and punched the floor hard enough to draw blood from her
knuckles. This was something that the medical teams knew what to do
with.
Rosette's strength has always been dealing with loss. After the loss
of her parents on Earth, and what forced her to stowaway on the Blue
Dwarf. She felt like everything and everyone had turned against her.
-----------------------------
The next morning appeared without warning, like an explosive collar to
the neck. Rosette didn't much like how it came, because it wasn't a
particularly nice analogy. Still.
Supply Field C was a desolate place, barely illuminated enough for
movement, let alone storing things safely. As much as anyone knew,
there was a rickety system of pulleys and ropes above your head full
of heavy equipment. Who knew what might land on them without a
moments notice.
It didn't help that the floor wasn't particular stable either. Having
a not-so-well maintained engine room below meant the heat and moisture
from the machinery had corroded a lot of the deck plates. Some of
them didn't even feel strong enough to support the weight of a person
now, let alone the heavy machinery that was meant to be kept here.
Perhaps this is why the machinery was dangling procariously from the
roof.
On one side of the supply field, Rosette and Amber stepped out from
complete darkness into... not much better, really. At least you could
tell that someone was there now.
On the other side, as promised, came Castillo. She of course had
Rufus in tow, who had now been released from his complete captivity,
now to the relative freedom of next to Castillo. (not very free,
really. but it's better than a small dark room with a Scyther standing
guard.) Following behind was Cassandra, holding the remote. Just to
compound the feeling of being outnumbered, Justin had joined the
group, feeling like he'd be missing out on the party.
Up in the control room, Seymour, Davie and Queen Brittany stood,
watching the proceedings. This meeting was going to be the end of it
all. The Ultimate Showdown, of Ultimate Destiny.
"What will happen to us if we surrender?" Rosette asked, to start the
'negotiations'. With them holding Rufus hostage, there was no way
either of them would be able to do anything to Castillo.
"You vill be held until ve get back to Earth. Zen you will be put on
trial for your crimes!" Castillo blurted.
"What about Rufus?"
"We vill remove ze collar, and hold him too."
"c-c-can I h-have a moment?" Rufus asked, going a bit red.
"yes yes, get your silly sentiments out of ze vay." Castillo snapped,
letting him go forward.
Rosette stayed where she was, going closer to Castillo wasn't her idea
of a good place to be. But as soon as Rufus was within arms reach,
she threw hers around him and pulled him close.
"I'm sorry I left you in the medibay. I should never have..." she
began, squeezing him tight.
"Shh, it's ok." Rufus said, brushing her hair away from her face.
"Y-you know w-w-what you have t-t-t-to do." He whispered into her ear.
"I-I-I-I..." he continued, unable to get over the stammer.
"I can't." Rosette whispered back. "You'll..." she said, looking up
into his eyes, which were oddly resolute. She felt something slide
into her pocket, which made her go red until she realised what it was.
"I L-L-l..." Rufus tried again, but the stammer kept his thoughts at
bay. He reached up and rubbed his neck under the collar, hoping it
would get rid of the stammer to try once more, but Rosette beat him to
it.
"I love you too." she said, as Rufus moved away as fast as his limp
could carry him.
Rosette drew her gun, and pulled the trigger...
<TBC!!! (on pain of death) next part WILL be later today. TBC will
expire in 24 hours>